In applying the money appropriated by Congress at the session of 1831

and '32, for the repairs of the Cumberland Road east of the Ohio river,

it was deemed highly important to change the location of that part of

the road immediately west of Cumberland to turn Wills mountain, as, by

that means, a rise of several hundred feet, within a few miles, would be

avoided. A survey was accordingly made, and submitted to Congress, and

the change was approved. The State of Maryland assented, provided the

part of the road embraced in the change should be "made of the best

materials, upon the Macadam plan, and that a good and substantial stone

bridge should be made on the mill-race, in the town of Cumberland, and

over Wills creek at the place of crossing, and that substantial stone

bridges and culverts should be made wherever the same may respectively

be necessary along the line of said road."

Estimates were prepared last fall for the entire completion of the

repairs of the road from Cumberland to the Ohio. These estimates, which

contemplated the construction and erection of bridges, in strict

conformity with the law of Maryland giving her consent to the change of

location, were submitted to Congress at the commencement of its recent

session, and amounted to six hundred and fifty-two thousand one hundred

dollars. Full and ample explanations accompanied these estimates, so

there could have been no misunderstanding respecting them. A bill of

appropriation was introduced, embracing their entire amount. This

amount, after much discussion, was reduced to less than one-half,

to-wit: $300,000, and the bill became a law, containing a section which

requires that as soon as the sum of $300,000, or as much thereof as is

necessary, shall be expended on the road agreeably to the provisions of

this act, the same shall be surrendered to the States, respectively,

through which the road passes; "and the United States shall not

thereafter be subject to any expense for repairing said road." Under

these circumstances, it was plain that the system of repairs upon which

the estimates were predicated could not be executed, and a change

became necessary. The stone bridges referred to in the law of Maryland

constituted a heavy item in the estimates, and it was entirely out of

the question to build them without absorbing more of the appropriation

than the absolute requirements of other sections of the road would

admit. There being no obligation to finish the new location further than

that imposed by the very great advantage resulting from its adoption,

the question arose whether it would be best to abandon it, and return to

the old road or not. After adopting every expedient, consistent with a

faithful execution of the law, to diminish the expenses on other

portions of the road, it was found that a sufficient sum would be left

to construct this new portion of the best material, on the Macadam plan,

and to build the abutments and piers of all the bridges on it of good

stone, and in the best manner, provided the superstructures were made of

wood. This was the best that could be done; and when it was considered

that these superstructures, being made of the best materials, would,

when covered and well painted, last, with a little care, from thirty to

forty years, it was recommended to the acting Secretary of War, during

your absence, to adopt them in preference to surrendering all the

benefits that will result from the new road. The acting Secretary,

considering that the approval of the measure would, under this state of

things, be a substantial compliance with the law of Maryland, directed

instructions to that effect to be issued to the superintendent of the

road, which was accordingly done.

With great respect, &c.,

By order: WM. H. C. BARTLETT,

Lieut. and Assist. to Chief Engineer.

The Hon. Secretary of War.

* * * * *

CUMBERLAND, December 12, 1834.

_Sir_: As one of the commissioners appointed by the Legislature of

Maryland to report to the Governor and Council of said State when that

part of the National Road within the limits of this State shall have

been repaired agreeably to the provisions of the law of the State

agreeing to receive that part of the road lying within the limits of

this State; and a further act of the Legislature of Maryland,

authorizing the President of the United States to change the location of

a part of said road within the limits of Maryland, the change of

location was authorized to be made on certain and positive conditions

that the bridges over Wills creek and Braddock's run should all be

permanent stone bridges; and the road to be constructed with the best

materials, on the Macadam plan (see the law of Maryland, passed December

session, 1832, chapter 55). The plan of the bridges has been changed by

the superintendent to wooden bridges, in direct violation of the

engagements with this State. The President had no right to change the

location of the road, unless the law of this State authorizing the

change was fully complied with.

The "metal" on the new location is not more than three and a half

inches, and every wagon that passes over it, when the road is wet, cuts

entirely through the stone, and turns up the clay. I am advised that

there is a part of the road, fourteen miles west of Cumberland, which

has had but three and a half inches of metal put on it over the original

pavement. I am gratified to have it in my power to state that, from

observation, and the best information I have been able to collect, the

last appropriation for the road has been most judiciously expended. I

believe that it is the first that has been well laid out.

I must say that we cannot report in favor of this State receiving the

road until the permanent stone bridges are erected, and the road in that

state of repair contemplated by the law.

I beg leave to refer you to my letter to General C. Gratiot, dated in

August last, which, with my communication to his excellency James

Thomas, Governor of Maryland, a copy of which, I presume, he

communicated to your department during the last summer, you will please

to consider a part of this communication. I should have addressed you at

an earlier period, but was prevented by severe indisposition.

I remain, with respect, your most obedient,

JOHN HOYE.

Hon. Lewis Cass,

Secretary of War, Washington City.

* * * * *

NOVEMBER 17, 1834.

_Sir_: The undersigned commissioners, appointed by the Governor of

Pennsylvania to erect gates and superintend the collection of tolls on

the Cumberland Road "after it shall be put in a good state of repair by

the United States," respectfully represent:

That, from a full and careful examination of the subject, they are

satisfied that they are not authorized, by the terms of the law under

which they are appointed, to accept the road from the United States, or

erect gates for the collection of tolls, until provision is made by

Congress for completing the repairs on the plan already adopted by the

agents of the United States, and sanctioned by several appropriations to

carry it into effect. Without this it is evident that a considerable

portion of the road, which has received but a single stratum of stone,

will be left in a condition so weak and imperfect as soon to become

again totally impassable for a considerable portion of the year.

The law of Pennsylvania expressly requires that, before the road is

accepted by the Commissioners, it must be put in good and complete

repair by the United States. To this act and all its provisions,

Congress, on the 3d of July, 1832, gave its assent; an appropriation was

made, and a plan of repair was accordingly adopted by the agents of the

government, and two subsequent appropriations made by Congress to carry

this plan and compact into effect. The complete repair of the road is

made by the compact a condition precedent to be performed by the United

States. It is not performed, as appears by the report of the agents of

the United States, and, until it is, the Commissioners appointed by the

State cannot be justified in accepting the road or exacting tolls.

Besides, it is evident that the tolls established, even if raised to the

maximum, will be totally inadequate to the preservation and repair of

the road, unless first put in a state of complete and substantial

repair. This, a statement of a single fact will fully demonstrate. It

appears by a report lately received from the superintendent of that part

of the road which lies between Hagerstown and Cumberland, that the tolls

there collected amount to $312 per mile per annum; of this $45 is

required to pay gate keepers and superintendents, leaving $267 for

repairs. The tolls on that part of the road are more than three times as

high as those proposed on this, so that the amount of tolls applicable

to the repair of this road will not exceed $89 per mile per annum, a sum

barely sufficient to preserve the road after it is put in the best

possible state of repair. The undersigned do not presume to prescribe a

plan of repair; they are satisfied with that adopted and partly executed

by the agents of the United States; and they now distinctly declare and

pledge themselves, that so soon as Congress shall appropriate the sum

required by the Secretary of War to complete the repair of the road on

the plan adopted in his report at the last session, we will, with all

possible despatch, proceed to erect the gates, and relieve the United

States from all further charge or expense on account of said road, after

the appropriation so made shall be expended.

Very respectfully, your most obedient servants,

THOMAS ENDSLEY.

DANIEL DOWNER.

WILLIAM F. COPLAN.

STEPHEN HILL.

BENJAMIN ANDERSON.

Hon. Lewis Cass,

Secretary of War.

NOTE.--The bridges near Wills creek were in the end built of

stone.

[Illustration: IRON BRIDGE.]

CHAPTER XIII.

_The Iron Bridge over Dunlap's Creek at Brownsville--Interesting

facts relating to its projection and construction--The first

step--Several respectable Gentlemen of Brownsville call the

attention of the Government's Agent to the subject._

NATIONAL ROAD, 85-5/8 MILES FROM CUMBERLAND,

August 15, 1832.

_Sir_: Yesterday, as I passed through Brownsville, I was waited on by

several of the most respectable gentlemen of that place, who were

anxious to have me examine the bridge over Dunlap's creek, between

Brownsville and Bridgeport, to see its condition, and to give my opinion

as to its renewal. Accordingly, I observed that I thought the bridge

would not stand a twelve-month, and that I did not feel myself

authorized to renew it, as the bridge had never been made by the

government, but recommended that they write to the department for a

decision; and, agreeably to their request, observed that I would

likewise report the actual condition of the bridge. Consequently, I

enclose to the department a leaf from my note book, giving a rough

sketch of the bridge, and pointing out its defects. The reason why this

bridge was not originally constructed by the government, as well as a

bridge over the Monongahela river, are better known to the department

than I am able to conjecture.

I have to observe that a company is now constructing a substantial

bridge over the Monongahela river, across from Bridgeport, thereby

making the bridge over Dunlap's creek an important link in the road; and

that a bridge, to ensure the purpose of a common highway, would not be

suitable for the only connecting point between two important and

increasing towns.

I have the honor to be, sir,

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

J. K. F. MANSFIELD,

Lieutenant Corps of Engineers.

Gen. C. Gratiot,

Chief Engineer.

THE SUBJECT TO BE EXAMINED.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, August 20, 1832.

_Sir_: Your letter of the 15th inst., informing the department that you

had, at the request of the citizens of Brownsville, made an examination

of the bridge over Dunlap's creek, with a view to an opinion on the

question of its removal, and transmitting a rough sketch of the bridge

as it at present exists, is received.

In consequence of the views presented in your letter, it will be

necessary to make a thorough examination of this bridge to ascertain

whether it is sufficiently substantial to answer all the purposes of the

road, by putting proper repairs upon it, or whether it will be necessary

to remove it entirely, and to build a new one.

You will accordingly make this examination, and with your report on the

subject you will transmit such drawings and explanatory notes as may be

necessary to present a full and clear view of the repairs, or new

bridge, as the case may be, accompanied by the proper estimates for

their execution.

You will also ascertain, by the best oral testimony that can be obtained

in the vicinity of the bridge, whether it is on the line of the road as

originally located, and make known the fact in your report.

The Secretary of War has been written to on the subject, and, as soon as

his decision is known at the department, you will be instructed

accordingly.

I am, &c., &c.,

C. GRATIOT.

Lieut. J. K. P. Mansfield,

Corps of Engineers, Uniontown, Pa.

AN EXAMINATION MADE, AND AN ADVERSE DECISION RENDERED.

UNIONTOWN, PA., August 24, 1832.

_Sir_: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the letter of the

department on the subject of the bridge over Dunlap's creek, at

Brownsville, and to state that I have completed the examination of the

road to the Virginia line, and have already given out notices for

contracts, two of which are enclosed for the perusal of the department.

I am, &c.,

J. K. F. MANSFIELD,

Lieutenant Corps of Engineers.

Gen. Charles Gratiot,

Chief Engineer.

* * * * *

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, October 11, 1832.

_Sir_: You were informed by letter from the department, under date of

20th August last, that the Secretary of War had been written to on the

subject of building a new bridge over Dunlap's creek in the place of

that which is at present in the line of the Cumberland Road, between

Brownsville and Bridgeport, and which was referred to in your

communication to the Chief Engineer of the 15th of August last. I now

have to inform you that the Secretary of War has decided that the bridge

in question cannot be built at the expense of the government, under the

law making appropriation for the repairs of the Cumberland Road east of

the Ohio river.

Very respectfully, &c.,

By order: WM. H. C. BARTLETT,

Lieut. of Engineers, and Assistant to Chief Engineer.

Lieut. J. K. F. Mansfield,

Corps of Engineers, Uniontown, Pa., or Capt. Delafield.

THE DECISION REVERSED, AND THE BRIDGE TO BE BUILT.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, May 13, 1833.

_Sir_: The Secretary of War has determined that a new bridge shall be

built across the mouth of Dunlap's creek, in the line of the Cumberland

Road; you will, therefore, be pleased to submit a plan, and estimate,

with as little delay as practicable, with the view to the erection of

this bridge during the present year.

I am, sir, &c.,

C. GRATIOT,

Brig. General.

Capt. R. Delafield,

Corps of Engineers, Uniontown, Pa.

A SERIOUS QUESTION AS TO LOCATION ARISES--A REQUEST THAT BARRIERS BE

USED ON THE ROAD.

Extract from a letter dated BROWNSVILLE, May 14, 1834.

_Sir_: To establish the location of Dunlap's creek bridge, I desire the

field notes of the commissioners, if on file in your office, and Mr.

Shriver's notes of location. From these, I am inclined to believe it

will appear that the most favorable route for the bridge was pointed out

by the commissioners, and the route over the bridge now used, no part of

the National Road, but a county bridge, that we have no right to

interfere with. May I request such information as is within your reach

on this subject?

The road may be called a very excellent turnpike between this and

Frostburg, at the present time; so smooth that already the stage

proprietors have commenced the use of a "rough lock," that materially

injures the surface. Some defects are clearly observable, growing out of

the constant travel and wear of the center of the road from the

prohibition to use barriers to change the travel.

Without being permitted to use barriers of logs, stumps and stones, it

is out of our power ever to make a perfect Macadamized road, and far

from being as good as the expenditure should produce. Such a system has

been resorted to on every road I have seen made, and every officer

associated with me concurs in the opinion that we cannot succeed without

using them. Permit me to ask a reconsideration of the order prohibiting

their use.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

RICH'D DELAFIELD,

Captain of Engineers.

Brig. Gen. Charles Gratiot,

Chief Engineer.

THE USE OF BARRIERS PERMITTED--A ROAD BEGINNING AT UNIONTOWN, AND

ENDING AT WASHINGTON.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, May 20, 1834.

_Sir_: Your communication, dated the 14th instant, was duly received. In

conformity with your request, a detail of two officers, as your

assistants on the Cumberland Road, has been applied for. Herewith is

transmitted a book containing, as stated, "the notes of a location of

the United States western road, beginning at Uniontown, and ending at

the turnpike near Washington," which is the only document among the

papers transferred from the Treasury Department to this office, relating

to the Cumberland Road, embraced in the notes, required to be forwarded

to you.

(On the subject of regulating the travel so as to preserve the surface

of the road from injury mentioned in your letter, you will again resort

to the use of barriers, wood only, to be used for the purpose, and

placed only on one side of the road at the same time, provided the

object can thus be accomplished, and so elevated as to be very

conspicuous, that the travel by night may not be endangered by the

barriers.)

I am, &c.,

C. GRATIOT,

Brig. General.

Capt. R. Delafield,

Corps of Engineers, Brownsville, Pa.

A BIG APPROPRIATION, BUT THE BRIDGE ABANDONED.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, June 25, 1834.

_Sir_: Three hundred thousand dollars have just been appropriated for

the repairs of the Cumberland Road east of the Ohio. You will perceive

by the law, a printed copy of which is herewith enclosed, that the

intention is that this sum shall complete the repairs. You will,

therefore, take your measures accordingly, and put the road in as good

condition as this sum will admit of. The new section to turn Wills hill

will be completed on the plan already commenced, but the plan of

operations on the other sections must be modified to suit the

requirements of the law. The iron bridge over Dunlap's creek will be

abandoned. Your project, when matured, will be transmitted for the

approval of the department.

Very respectfully, &c.,

By order: WM. H. C. BARTLETT.

Lieut. and Assistant to Chief Engineer.

Capt. R. Delafield,

Corps of Engineers, New Castle, Del.

ANOTHER AND FINAL CHANGE--THE BRIDGE TO BE BUILT ON THE SITE OF THE

OLD ONE.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, August 14, 1834.

_Sir_: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, dated

31st ultimo, in reference to the bridge over Dunlap's creek, on the

Cumberland Road, east of the Ohio. The subject of rebuilding this bridge

was brought to the notice of the Secretary of War during the summer of

1832, when he refused to take any action in the matter, on the ground

that it was a county bridge, which should be repaired or rebuilt by the

county authorities, as the United States, in adopting a system of

repairs, had undertaken to repair only that which they had originally

constructed. It was thought on the other side, that notwithstanding the

United States had not built this bridge, yet, as they had enjoyed the

free benefit of it, and as it lay on the tacitly acknowledged line of

the road, they were bound, under the act of Congress authorizing the

repairs of the road to work on every part of it without reference to

original constructors or proprietors. In this state of the case, it was

submitted to Mr. Taney, then Attorney General, who decided verbally in

favor of the latter view, and instructions in conformity thereto were

issued to the superintendent of the road, requiring him to cause the

bridge to be either repaired or rebuilt. This question having been

settled, the next is, whether Dunlap's creek can be crossed at any other

point than where the county bridge now stands. It is the opinion of the

department that it cannot. It would seem there is no evidence on record

that any location was ever finally fixed upon by the commissioners, and

reported by them to the President, for the part of the road in the

immediate vicinity of this creek; but the fact that the road was

actually made in its present location, and used ever since its original

construction, without any opposition, is strong proof that this route

was adopted by the Government; at all events, in the absence of all

other evidence, the department feels constrained to act upon this. Now,

the appropriations having been made for the repairs of the road, and not

for constructing any part of it, except the new section to turn Wills

hill, it is not perceived how any part of the funds can be applied to

the new location proposed by you. These views having been submitted to

the acting Secretary of War, he concurs in them. Your operations will,

therefore, be confined to the old road on which the bridge must be

located.

Very, &c.,

C. GRATIOT,

Capt. Richard Delafield,

Corps of Engineers, Brownsville, Pa.

CHAPTER XIV.

_Appropriations by Congress at various times for Making, Repairing,

and Continuing the Road--Aggregate of Appropriations,

$6,824,919.33._

1. Act of March 29, 1806, authorizes the President to

appoint a commission of three citizens to lay out

a road four rods in width "from Cumberland or a

point on the northern bank of the river Potomac in

the State of Maryland, between Cumberland and the

place where the main road leading from Gwinn's to

Winchester, in Virginia, crosses the river, * * *

to strike the river Ohio at the most convenient

place between a point on its eastern bank,

opposite to the northern boundary of Steubenville

and the mouth of Grave creek, which empties into

the said river a little below Wheeling, in

Virginia." Provides for obtaining the consent of

the States through which the road passes, and

appropriates for the expenses, to be paid from the

reserve fund under the act of April 30, 1802 $ 30,000 00

2. Act of February 14, 1810, appropriates to be

expended under the direction of the President, in

making the road between Cumberland and Brownsville,

to be paid from fund act of April 30, 1802 60,000 00

3. Act of March 3, 1811, appropriates to be expended

under the direction of the President, in making the

road between Cumberland and Brownsville, and

authorizes the President to permit deviations from

a line established by the Commissioners under the

original act as may be expedient; _Provided_, that

no deviation shall be made from the principal

points established on said road between Cumberland

and Brownsville, to be paid from fund act of April

30, 1802 50,000 00

4. Act of February 26, 1812, appropriates balance of

a former appropriation not used, but carried to

surplus fund 3,786 60

------------

_Carried forward_ $ 143,786 60

_Brought forward_ $ 143,786 60

5. Act of May 6, 1812, appropriates to be expended

under direction of the President, for making the

road from Cumberland to Brownsville, to be paid

from fund act of April 30, 1802 30,000 00

6. Act of March 3, 1813 (General Appropriation Bill),

appropriates for making the road from Cumberland to

the State of Ohio, to be paid from fund act of

April 30, 1802 140,000 00

7. Act of February 14, 1815, appropriates to be

expended under the direction of the President, for

making the road between Cumberland and Brownsville,

to be paid from fund act of April 30, 1802 100,000 00

8. Act of April 16, 1816 (General Appropriation Bill),

appropriates for making the road from Cumberland to

the State of Ohio, to be paid from the fund act,

April 30, 1802 300,000 00

9. Act of April 14, 1818, appropriates to meet claims

due and unpaid 52,984 60

Demands under existing contracts 260,000 00 from money

in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

10. Act of March 3, 1819, appropriates for existing

claims and contracts 250,000 00

Completing road 285,000 00 To be paid from reserved

funds, acts admitting Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

11. Act of May 15, 1820, appropriates for laying out

the road between Wheeling, Va., and a point on the

left bank of the Mississippi river, between St.

Louis and the mouth of the Illinois river, road to

be eighty feet wide and on a straight line, and

authorizes the President to appoint Commissioners.

To be paid out of any money in the treasury not

otherwise appropriated 10,000 00

12. Act of April 11, 1820, appropriates for completing

contract for road from Washington, Pa., to

Wheeling, out of any money in the treasury not

otherwise appropriated 141,000 00

13. Act of February 28, 1823, appropriates for repairs

between Cumberland and Wheeling, and authorizes the

President to appoint a superintendent at a

compensation of $3.00 per day. To be paid out of

money not otherwise appropriated 25,000 00

-------------

_Carried forward_ $1,737,771 20

_Brought forward_ $1,737,771 20

14. Act of March 3, 1825, appropriates for opening and

making a road from the town of Canton, in the State

of Ohio, opposite Wheeling, to Zanesville, and for

the completion of the surveys of the road, directed

to be made by the act of May 15, 1820, and orders

its extension to the permanent seat of government

of Missouri, and to pass by the seats of government

of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, said road to

commence at Zanesville, Ohio; also authorizes the

appointment of a superintendent by the President,

at a salary of $1,500 per annum, who shall make all

contracts, receive and disburse all moneys, &c.;

also authorizes the appointment of one

commissioner, who shall have power according to

provisions of the act of May 15, 1820; $10,000 of

the money appropriated by this act is to be

expended in completing the survey mentioned. The

whole sum appropriated to be advanced from moneys

not otherwise appropriated, and replaced from

reserve fund, acts admitting Ohio, Indiana,

Illinois, and Missouri 150,000 00

15. Act of March 14, 1826 (General Appropriation

Bill), appropriates for balance due superintendent,

$3,000; assistant superintendent, $158.90;

contractor, $252.13 3,411 03

from moneys not otherwise appropriated.

16. Act of March 25, 1826 (Military Service),

appropriates for continuation of the Cumberland

Road during the year 1825 110,749 00

17. Act of March 2, 1827 (Military Service),

appropriates for construction of road from Canton

to Zanesville, and continuing and completing the

survey from Zanesville to the seat of government of

Missouri, to be paid from reserve fund, acts

admitting Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri 170,000 00

For balance due superintendent, from moneys not

otherwise appropriated 510 00

18. Act of March 2, 1827, appropriates for repairs

between Cumberland and Wheeling, and authorizes the

appointment of a superintendent of repairs, at a

compensation to be fixed by the President. To be

paid from moneys not otherwise appropriated. The

language of this act is, "For repairing the public

road from Cumberland to Wheeling" 30,000 00

-------------

_Carried forward_ $2,202,441 23

_Brought forward_ $2,202,441 23

19. Act of May 19, 1828, appropriates for the

completion of the road to Zanesville, Ohio, to be

paid from fund, acts admitting Ohio, Indiana,

Illinois, and Missouri 175,000 00

20. Act of March 2, 1829, appropriates for opening

road westwardly, from Zanesville, Ohio, to be paid

from fund, acts admitting Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,

and Missouri 100,000 00

21. Act of March 2, 1829, appropriates for opening

road eighty feet wide in Indiana, east and west

from Indianapolis, and to appoint two

superintendents, at $800 each per annum, to be paid

from fund, acts admitting Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,

and Missouri 51,600 00

22. Act of March 3, 1829, appropriates for repairing

bridges, &c., on road east of Wheeling 100,000 00

23. Act of May 31, 1830 (Internal Improvements),

appropriates for opening and grading road west of

Zanesville, Ohio, $100,000; for opening and grading

road in Indiana, $60,000, commencing at

Indianapolis, and progressing with the work to the

eastern and western boundaries of said State; for

opening, grading, &c., in Illinois, $40,000, to be

paid from reserve fund, acts admitting Ohio,

Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri; for claims due and

remaining unpaid on account of road east of

Wheeling, $15,000; to be paid from moneys in

the treasury not otherwise appropriated 215,000 00

To this act is appended the following note:

"I approve this bill, and ask a reference to my

communication to Congress of this date in relation

thereto.

"ANDREW JACKSON."[B]

------------

_Carried forward_ $2,844,041 23

[Footnote B: The following is the communication referred to by

President Jackson:

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MAY 30, 1830. _To the Senate of the United States_:

_Gentlemen_: I have approved and signed the bill entitled

"An act making appropriations for examinations and

surveys, and also for certain works of internal

improvement," but as the phraseology of the section,

which appropriates the sum of eight thousand dollars for

the road from Detroit to Chicago, may be construed to

authorize the application of the appropriation for the

continuance of the road beyond the limits of the

territory of Michigan, I desire to be understood as

having approved this bill with the understanding that the

road, authorized by this section, is not to be extended

beyond the limits of the said territory.

ANDREW JACKSON.]

_Brought forward_ $2,844,041 23

24. Act of March 2, 1831, appropriates $100,000 for

opening, grading, &c., west of Zanesville,

Ohio; $950 for repairs during the year 1830;

$2,700 for work heretofore done east of Zanesville;

$265.85 for arrearages for the survey from

Zanesville to the capital of Missouri; and $75,000

for opening, grading, &c., in the State of Indiana,

including bridge over White river, near Indianapolis,

and progressing to eastern and western boundaries;

$66,000 for opening, grading, and bridging in

Illinois; to be paid from the fund, acts admitting

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri 244,915 85

25. Act of July 3, 1832, appropriates $150,000 for

repairs east of the Ohio river; $100,000 for

continuing the road west of Zanesville; $100,000

for continuing the road in Indiana, including

bridge over east and west branch of White

river; $70,000 for continuing road in

Illinois; to be paid from the fund acts admitting

Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, 420,000 00

26. Act of March 2, 1833, appropriates to carry on

certain improvements east of the Ohio river,

$125,000; in Ohio, west of Zanesville, $130,000;

in Indiana, $100,000; in Illinois, $70,000; in

Virginia, $34,440 459,440 00

27. Act of June 24, 1834, appropriates $200,000 for

continuing the road in Ohio; $150,000 for

continuing the road in Indiana; $100,000 for

continuing the road in Illinois, and $300,000 for

the entire completion of repairs east of Ohio, to

meet provisions of the Acts of Pennsylvania (April

4, 1831), Maryland (Jan. 23, 1832), and Virginia

(Feb. 7, 1832), accepting the road surrendered to

the States, the United States not thereafter to be

subject for any expense for repairs. Places

engineer officer of army in control of road

through Indiana and Illinois, and in charge of all

appropriations. $300,000 to be paid out of any

money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

balance from acts admitting Ohio, Indiana and

Illinois 750,000 00

28. Act of June 27, 1837, (General Appropriation) for

arrearages due contractors 1,609 36

-----------

_Carried forward_ $4,720,006 44

_Brought forward_ $4,720,006 44

29. Act of March 3, 1835, appropriates $200,000 for

continuing the road in the State of Ohio; $100,000

for continuing road in the State of Indiana; to be

out of fund acts admitting Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,

and $346,186.58 for the entire completion of

repairs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia;

but before any part of this sum can be expended

east of the Ohio river, the road shall be

surrendered to and accepted by the States through

which it passes, and the United States shall not

thereafter be subject to any expense in relation

to said road. Out of any money in the Treasury not

otherwise appropriated 646,186 58

30. Act of March 3, 1835, (Repair of Roads)

appropriates to pay for work heretofore done by

Isaiah Frost on the Cumberland Road, $320; to pay

late Superintendent of road a salary, $862.87

1,182 87

31. Act of July 2, 1836, appropriates for continuing

the road in Ohio, $200,000; for continuing road in

Indiana, $250,000, including materials for a

bridge over the Wabash river; $150,000 for

continuing the road in Illinois, provided that the

appropriation for Illinois shall be limited to

grading and bridging, and shall not be construed

as pledging Congress to future appropriations for

the purpose of macadamizing the road, and the

moneys herein appropriated for said road in Ohio

and Indiana must be expended in completing the

greatest possible continuous portion of said road

in said States so that said finished part thereof

may be surrendered to the States respectively; to

be paid from acts admitting Ohio, Indiana,

Illinois and Missouri 600,000 00

32. Act of March 3, 1837, appropriates $190,000 for

continuing the road in Ohio; $100,000 for

continuing the road in Indiana; $100,000 for

continuing road in Illinois, provided the road in

Illinois shall not be stoned or graveled, unless

it can be done at a cost not greater than the

average cost of stoning and graveling the road in

Ohio and Indiana, and provided that in all cases

where it can be done the work to be laid off in

sections and let to the lowest substantial bidder.

Sec. 2 of the act provides that Sec. 2 of act of

July 2, 1836, shall not be applicable to

expenditures hereafter made on the road, and

$7,183.63 is appropriated by this act for repairs

east of the Ohio river; to be paid from the acts

admitting Ohio, Indiana and Illinois 397,183 63

-------------

_Carried forward_ $6,364,559 52

_Brought forward_ $6,364,559 52

33. Act of May 25, 1838, appropriates for continuing

the road in Ohio, $150,000; for continuing it in

Indiana, including bridges, $150,000; for

continuing it in Illinois, $9,000; for the

completion of a bridge over Dunlap's creek at

Brownsville; to be paid from moneys in the

Treasury not otherwise appropriated and subject to

provisions and conditions of act of March 3, 1837 459,000 00

34. Act of June 17, 1844, (Civil and Diplomatic)

appropriates for arrearages on account of survey

to Jefferson, Mo. 1,359 81

-------------

Total $6,824,919 33

NOTE--The appropriation of $3,786 60, made by act of Feb. 26, 1812,

is not included in the above total for the reason that it was a

balance from a former appropriation.

The act of March 3, 1843, appropriates so much as is necessary to

settle certain claims on contract for building bridges over

Kaskaskia river and constructing part of Cumberland Road.

[Illustration: HON. T. M. T. McKENNAN.]

CHAPTER XV.

_Speech of Hon. T. M. T. McKennan, delivered in Congress, June 6,

1832--The Road a Monument of National Wealth and Greatness--A Bond

of Union--Business of the Road--Five Thousand Wagons unload in

Wheeling in a single year--Facilities afforded by the Road for

transporting the Mails and Munitions of War._

This road, Mr. Speaker (the National Road), is a _magnificent

one_--magnificent in extent; it traverses seven different States of this

Union, and its whole distance will cover an extent of near eight hundred

miles. Magnificent in the difficulties overcome by the wealth of a

nation, and in the benefits and advantages and blessings which it

diffuses, east and west, far and wide, through the whole country. It is,

sir, _a splendid monument of national wealth and national greatness, and

of the deep interest felt by the government in the wealth and prosperity

and happiness of the people_.

It is not, sir, like the stupendous monuments of other countries and of

other times, which have been erected merely for the purpose of show and

of gratifying the pride of some despotic monarch; but this and all

similar national improvements are _works of utility; they tend to cement

the bond of union; they bring together the distant parts of this exalted

republic; they diffuse wealth and happiness among a free people, and

will be a source of never failing prosperity to millions yet unborn_.

It is, sir, _a great commercial, military, mail, national work_. To give

the House, or those of its members who are unacquainted with the fact,

some idea of the immense commercial advantages which the eastern as well

as the western country has derived from the construction of this road,

let me call their attention to the amount of merchandise transported to

the Ohio river in a single year after its completion; and here, sir, I

avail myself of an estimate made by an honorable member of the other

House on another occasion, when he strongly urged the propriety and

importance of the extension of the road through the State of Ohio.

In the year 1822, shortly after the completion of the road, a single

house in the town of Wheeling unloaded 1,081 wagons, averaging about

3,500 pounds each, and paid for the carriage of the goods $90,000. At

that time there were five other commission houses in the same place, and

estimating that each of them received two-thirds the amount of goods

consigned to the other, there must have been nearly 5,000 wagons

unloaded, and nearly $400,000 paid as the cost of transportation. But,

further, it is estimated that at least every tenth wagon passed through

that place into the interior of Ohio, Indiana, &c., which would

considerably swell the amount. These wagons take their return loads and

carry to the eastern markets all the various articles of production and

manufacture of the West--their flour, whisky, hemp, tobacco, bacon, and

wool. Since this estimate was made, the town of Wheeling is greatly

enlarged; its population has nearly doubled; the number of its

commercial establishments has greatly increased; and the demand for

merchandise in the West has increased with the wealth and improvement

and prosperity of the country.

But, further, sir, before the completion of this road, from four to six

weeks were usually occupied in the transportation of goods from

Baltimore to the Ohio river, and the price varied from six to ten

dollars per hundred. Now they can be carried in less than half the time

and at one-half the cost, and arrangements are making by some

enterprising gentlemen of the West to have the speed of transportation

still increased, and the price of carriage diminished.

Equally important are the benefits derived by the government and the

people from the rapid, regular, and safe transportation of the mail on

this road. Before its completion, eight or more days were occupied in

transporting the mail from Baltimore to Wheeling; it was then carried on

horseback, and did not reach the western country by this route more than

once a week. Now it is carried in comfortable stages, protected from the

inclemency of the weather, in forty-eight hours; and no less than

twenty-eight mails weekly and regularly pass and repass each other on

this road. To show this fact, and the absolute necessity and importance

of keeping the road in a good state of repair, in order to enable the

postoffice department to fulfill the expectations of the public, I will

ask the favor of the clerk to read to the House a communication received

from the Postmaster General on the subject. [Here the clerk read an

extract from a letter of the Postmaster General]. The facilities

afforded by such a road in time of war for the transportation of the

munitions of war, and the means of defence from one point of the country

to another, need scarcely be noticed; they must be palpable and plain to

every reflecting mind, and I will not take up the time of the House in

detailing them.

As I said before, the road traverses seven different States of this

Union, and in its whole extent will cover a distance of near 800 miles.

Who, then, can doubt its nationality? Who can question the allegation

that it is an immensely important national work? _Who can reconcile it

to his conscience and his constituents to permit it to go to

destruction?_

[Illustration: ROAD WAGON]

CHAPTER XVI.

_Life on the Road--Origin of the Phrase Pike Boys--Slaves Driven Like

Horses--Race Distinction at the Old Taverns--Old Wagoners--Regulars

and Sharpshooters--Line Teams--John Snider, John Thompson, Daniel

Barcus, Robert Bell, Henry Clay Rush, and other Familiar Names._

As the phrase "Pike Boys" is frequently used in this volume, it is

considered pertinent to give its origin. When first used, it was

confined in its application to boys--sons of wagoners, stage drivers,

tavern keepers, farmers, and in fact the sons of persons of every

occupation who lived on or adjacent to the road, in the same sense that

the boys of a town are called "town boys." Its meaning and import,

however, expanded in course of time, until it embraced, as it now does,

all persons in any manner and at any time identified with the road,

whether by residence or occupation, and without "regard to age, race,

color or previous condition of servitude," as the statute puts it, for

be it remembered that negro slaves were frequently seen on the National

Road. The writer has seen them driven over the road arranged in couples

and fastened to a long, thick rope or cable, like horses. This may seem

incredible to a majority of persons now living along the road, but it is

true, and was a very common sight in the early history of the road and

evoked no expression of surprise, or words of censure. Such was the

temper of the times. There were negro wagoners on the road, but negro

stage drivers were unknown. Stage driving was quite a lofty calling, and

the acme of many a young man's ambition. The work was light and the

whirl exciting and exhilarating. Wagoners, white and black, stopped over

night at the same taverns, but never sat down together at the same

table. A separate table was invariably provided for the colored

wagoners, a custom in thorough accord with the public sentiment of the

time, and seemingly agreeable to the colored wagoners themselves.

Country life in the olden time was enlivened by numerous corn huskings,

balls, spelling matches, school exhibitions and frolics of all kinds.

Young men and boys along the road, were in the habit of attending these

gatherings, going as far as three miles and more in the back country, to

reach them, some on foot and others on horseback. A young man would

think nothing of getting a girl up behind him on a horse, and hieing

away after nightfall, four and five miles to a country dance, and many

of the girls of the period considered it but pleasant recreation to walk

two or three miles with their lovers, to a spelling match or a revival

meeting. A feeling of jealousy always existed between the young men and

boys, living along and near the road, and those in the back country, and

the occasions before mentioned furnished opportunities from time to time

for this feeling to break out, as it often did, in quarrels and fights.

The country boys would get together in anticipation of an approaching

gathering at some school house, and organize for offense or defense, as

the exigencies might require, always calling their rivals and imaginary

enemies, "Pike Boys," and this was the origin of that familiar phrase.

The men who hauled merchandise over the road were invariably called

wagoners, not teamsters, as is the modern word, and they were both,

since Webster defines wagoner as one who conducts a wagon, and teamster

as one who drives a team. The teams of the old wagoners consisting, as a

rule, of six horses, were very rarely stabled, but rested over night on

the wagon yards of the old taverns, no matter how inclement the weather.

Blankets were used to protect them in the winter season. Feed troughs

were suspended at the rear end of the wagon bed, and carried along in

this manner, day after day all the year round. In the evening, when the

day's journey was ended, the troughs were taken down and fastened on the

tongues of the wagon to which the horses were tied, three on a side,

with their heads to the trough. Wagoners carried their beds, rolled up,

in the forepart of the wagon, and spread them out in a semi-circle on

the bar room floor in front of the big bar room fire upon going to rest.

Some of the old bar room grates would hold as much as six bushels of

coal, and iron pokers from four to six feet in length, weighing eight

and ten pounds, were used for stirring the fires. To get down an icy

hill with safety, it was necessary to use an ice cutter, a rough lock,

or a clevis, and sometimes all combined, contingent upon the thickness

and smoothness of the ice, and the length and steepness of the hill. The

ice cutter was of steel or iron, in appearance like a small sled, fitted

on the hind wheels, which were first securely locked. The rough lock was

a short chain with large, rough links, and the clevis was like that used

on an ordinary plow, except that it was larger and stronger. These

instruments were essential parts of the wagoners' "outfit." There were

two classes of wagoners, the "regular" and the "sharpshooter." The

regular was on the road constantly with his team and wagon, and had no

other pursuit than hauling goods and merchandise on the road. The

sharpshooters were for the most part farmers, who put their farm teams

on the road in seasons when freights were high, and took them off when

prices of hauling declined; and there was jealousy between the two

classes. The regular drove his team about fifteen miles a day on the

average, while the sharpshooter could cover twenty miles and more. Line

teams were those controlled by an association or company. Many of the

regular wagoners became members of these companies and put in their

teams. The main object of the combination was to transport goods more

rapidly than by the ordinary method. Line teams were stationed along

the road, at distances of about fifteen miles, and horses were exchanged

after the manner of the stage lines. Many of the old wagoners had

bull-dogs tied at the rear of their wagons, and these dogs were often

seen pressing with all their strength against the collar about their

necks, as if to aid the horses in moving their load; and this is

probably the origin of the common form of boast about a man being equal

in strength to "a six-horse team with a cross dog under the wagon."

[Illustration: JOHN THOMPSON.]

The whip used by old wagoners was apparently five feet long, thick and

hard at the butt, and tapering rapidly to the end in a silken cracker.

Battley White, of Centerville, Washington county, Pa., made more of

these whips than any other man on the road. The interior of his whip was

a raw hide. John Morrow, of Petersburg, Somerset county, Pa., also made

many whips for the old wagoners. There was another whip, much used by

old wagoners, known as the "Loudon Whip." The inner portion of this whip

was an elastic wooden stock, much approved by the wagoners. It was

manufactured in the village of Loudon, Franklin county, Pa., and hence

its name. It was used almost exclusively on what was called the "Glade

Road," from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, _via_ Chambersburg and Bedford.

Some of the old wagoners of the National Road became rich. John Snider

was one of these. He drove a six-horse team on the road for twenty

years, and died on his farm near Uniontown in December, 1889, much

lamented. Few men possessed more of the higher attributes of true

manhood than John Snider. The author of this volume gratefully and

cheerfully acknowledges his indebtedness to John Snider for many of the

facts and incidents it contains. He was a clear-headed, intelligent,

sober, discreet, and observing man, whose statements could be relied on

as accurate.

It would be an impossible task to collect the names of all the old

wagoners of the National Road. They number thousands, and many of them

left the road long since to seek fortunes in new and distant sections of

our widely extended country. The most of them have gone to scenes beyond

the boundaries of time. It is the author's aim to collect as many of

their names as is practicable and write them down in history. The names

of John Thompson, James Noble, and John Flack are recalled. These worthy

old wagoners are still living in the vicinity of Taylorstown, Washington

county, Pa., and highly respected by all their neighbors. The point at

which they first entered upon the road was the famous "S" bridge.

Thompson drove his father's team when quite young, in fact, a mere boy.

The first trip he made over the road was in the spring of 1843, in

company with the veteran wagoner, George Hallam, of Washington, Pa.

Thompson's father was a pork packer, and the youthful wagoner's "down

loads," as those moving eastwardly were called, consisted for the most

part of bacon. His recollections of the road are vivid, and warmly

cherished. He can sit down in a room, at his comfortable home, and "in

his mind's eye" see every mile post along the road and recall the

distances to points inscribed thereon. In the year 1852, he went to

California, engaged in mining, and was successful. With the instinct

planted in every human breast, he returned to his native land, and with

his accumulations bought his father's homestead farm. The old farm

enhanced in value by reason of the oil developments, and landed the old

wagoner in the ranks of the rich.

The name Noble is a familiar one on the National Road, and suggestive of

rank. "Watty" and William Noble were stage drivers. James Noble, the old

wagoner, drove a team for the late Hon. Isaac Hodgens, who was at one

time a pork salter. He remained on the road as a wagoner until its tide

of business ceased, and retired to Taylorstown to take his chances in

the on-moving and uncertain affairs of life. He seemed possessed of the

idea that there was undeveloped wealth in the vicinity of Taylorstown,

and made up his mind to gain a foothold there and wait the coming of

events. He managed by the exercise of industry and economy to become the

owner of a farm, and the discovery of oil did the rest for him. He is

rich.

John Flack's career is similar to those of Thompson and Noble,

culminating in like good fortune. "He struck oil, too."

We have in the story of these old wagoners, examples of the

possibilities for achievement, under the inspiring genius of American

institutions. Poor boys, starting out in life as wagoners, with wages

barely sufficient for their subsistence, pushing on and up with

ceaseless vigilance, attaining the dignity of farmers, in all ages the

highest type of industrial life, and now each bearing, though meekly,

the proud title of "freeholder," which Mr. Blaine said in his celebrated

eulogium of Garfield, "has been the patent and passport of self-respect

with the Anglo-Saxon race ever since Horsa and Hengist landed on the

shores of England."

[Illustration: DANIEL BARCUS.]

Otho and Daniel Barcus, brothers, were among the prominent wagoners of

the road. They lived near Frostburg, Md. Otho died at Barton, Md., in

1883. Daniel is now living in retirement at Salisbury, Somerset county,

Pa. In 1838 he engaged with John Hopkins, merchant at the foot of Light

and Pratt streets, Baltimore, to haul a load of general merchandise,

weighing 8,300 pounds, to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. "He delivered the goods in

good condition" at the end of thirty days from the date of his departure

from Baltimore. His route was over the National Road to Wheeling, thence

by Zanesville and Jacktown, Ohio, thence thirty-two miles from the

latter place to the point of destination, the whole distance being 397

miles. He received $4.25 per hundred for hauling the goods. At Mt.

Vernon he loaded back with Ohio tobacco, 7,200 pounds in hogsheads, for

which he received $2.75 per hundred. On the return trip he upset,

between Mt. Vernon and Jacktown, without sustaining any damage, beyond

the breaking of a bow of his wagon bed, and the loss caused by

detention. The expense of getting in shape for pursuing his journey, was

the price of a gallon of whisky. Mt. Vernon is not on the line of the

road, and Mr. Barcus writes that "when he reached the National Road

at Jacktown, he felt at home again." Mr. Barcus also states in a letter

to the writer of these pages, that the first lot of goods shipped over

the Baltimore and Ohio railway, after its completion to Cumberland,

destined for Wheeling, was consigned to Shriver and Dixon, commission

merchants of Cumberland, and by that firm consigned to Forsythe and Son,

of Wheeling. This lot of goods aggregated 6,143 pounds, an average load

for a six-horse team, and Mr. Barcus contracted with Shriver and Dixon

to haul it through to Wheeling in six days for fifty cents a hundred,

which he accomplished. He further states that a delegation of wholesale

and retail merchants of Wheeling met him at Steenrod's tavern, east of

Wheeling Hill, and escorted him to town, then a place of 4,000 or 5,000

inhabitants, and in the evening there was public rejoicing over the

unprecedented event of goods reaching Wheeling from Baltimore in the

short space of seven days. Mr. Barcus concludes his letter as follows:

"I stayed many nights at Hopwood with Wilse Clement, and many with Natty

Brownfield, in Uniontown. I often stayed with Arthur Wallace, five miles

east of Brownsville. I remember one night at Wallace's, after caring for

my team, I accompanied his two fine and handsome daughters to a party

about a mile distant in the country, where I danced all night, till

broad daylight, and then walked home with the girls in the morning."

John Grace was another old wagoner, who became wealthy. The old pike

boys will remember him as the driver of a black team. He was a Maryland

man. When the old road yielded its grasp on trade, to the iron railway,

Grace settled in or near Zanesville, Ohio, where he still lives, or was

living a few years ago, worth a hundred thousand dollars. He transported

his family to Ohio in his big road wagon.

Jesse Franks, and his son Conrad, of High House, Fayette county, Pa.,

were old wagoners. Conrad's team ran off near Cumberland, on one of his

trips, overthrowing the wagon, and causing an ugly dislocation of

Conrad's thigh, from which he suffered great pain for many weeks.

John Manaway, late owner of the Spottsylvania House, Uniontown, drove a

team on the road for many years, and no man enjoyed the business more

than he.

There was an Ohio man of the name of Lucas, called Gov. Lucas, because a

man of like name was an early Governor of Ohio, who was an old wagoner,

and his team consisted of but five horses, yet he hauled the biggest

loads on the road. He was the owner of the team he drove. In the year

1844, one of his loads weighed twelve thousand pounds--"one hundred and

twenty hundred," as the old wagoners termed it, and the biggest load

ever hauled over the road up to that date.

William King, of Washington county, Pa., an old wagoner, was noted for

his steady habits. On one of his trips over the road, and going down the

eastern slope of Laurel Hill, when it was covered with ice, his wagon

slipped from the road and fell over the bank near the old Price

residence, dragging the team after it. Strange to say, the horses were

uninjured and but little damage done to the wagon. The contents of the

load were Ohio tobacco and bacon. After getting things restored, King

drove to Jimmy Snyder's, stayed all night, and the next morning

proceeded on his journey to Baltimore. He was the owner of a farm in

Washington county.

Joseph Thompson, an old wagoner on the road, is now and has been for

many years in charge of the large and valuable coal farm belonging to

the estate of the Hon. James G. Blaine, on the Monongahela river, near

Pittsburg. A trusty old wagoner, he has approved himself the trusty

agent of the great statesman.

Jacob Probasco was an old wagoner, and also kept a tavern at Jockey

Hollow. He went west and founded a fortune.

Joseph Lawson, an old wagoner, kept tavern for many years in West

Alexander, Washington county, Pa., and died the possessor of a valuable

estate. The author of this book took dinner, in 1848, at Lawson's

tavern, in company with James G. Blaine, the late distinguished

Secretary of State.

Matthias Fry, an old wagoner, kept the Searight House in 1840, and

subsequently presided as landlord over several houses at different times

in Hopwood. He was one of the best men on the road. His large and well

proportioned form will be readily recalled by the old pike boys. He was

a native of Old Virginia, and died in Hopwood.

David Hill was one of the most noted wagoners of the road. He was an

active, bustling man, and given to witty sayings. He belonged to

Washington county, Pa., and was the father of Dr. Hill, of Vanderbilt,

and the father-in-law of the Rev. J. K. Melhorn, who preached for many

years in the vicinity of McClellandtown, Fayette county, Pa.

Andrew Prentice, who died recently in Uniontown, the possessor of

considerable money, drove a team on the old road in his early days.

Henry Clay Rush, a prominent citizen of Uniontown, and ex-jury

commissioner, was once the proud driver of a big six-horse team. He

drove through from Baltimore to Wheeling, and can recount incidents of

every mile of the road to this day. None of the old pike boys enjoys

with keener relish a recital of the stories of the old pike than Rush.

William Worthington, who died not long since in Dunbar township, Fayette

county, Pa., aged upwards of ninety years, was one of the earliest

wagoners on the road. When he made his first trip he was only thirteen

years old, and the road was then recently opened for travel. He

continued as a wagoner on the road for many years, and located in Dunbar

township, where he purchased property, which subsequently became very

valuable by reason of the coal development.

William Chenriewith, who recently, and probably at the present time,

keeps a hotel near Bedford Springs, was an old wagoner of the National

Road.

[Illustration: HENRY CLAY RUSH.]

John Thomas, who kept a hotel and livery stable in Baltimore, was an old

wagoner, and is well remembered along the road.

George Buttermore, father of Dr. Smith Buttermore, of Connellsville, was

at one time a wagoner on the National Road.

John Orr, now a prosperous and well-known farmer of the vicinity of West

Newton, Westmoreland county, Pa., was an old wagoner of the road.

James Murray, an old wagoner, is remembered for his extravagance of

speech. One of his sayings was, that "he saw the wind blow so hard on

Keyser's Ridge, that it took six men to hold the hair on one man's

head."

E. W. Clement, of Hopwood, was an old wagoner, and invariably used bells

on his horses. He subsequently kept a tavern in Hopwood, and built the

house there known as the "Shipley House."

Robert Bell was an old wagoner with quaint ways. He was rich, and owned

his team, which was the poorest equipped of any on the road. Horses in

his team were not infrequently seen without bridles. He was a trader,

and often bought the goods he hauled and sold them out to people along

the road. His reputation for honesty was good, but he was called "Stingy

Robert."

George Widdle, an old wagoner of the age of eighty and upwards, still

living in Wheeling, drew the single line and handled the Loudon whip

over a six-horse team for many years, between Wheeling and Baltimore,

and accounts the days of those years the happiest of his existence. He

was also a stage driver for a time. Nothing affords him so much pleasure

as a recital of the incidents of the road. He says there never were such

taverns and tavern keepers as those of the National Road in the days of

its glory, and of his vigorous manhood.

James Butler, like Bell, was a trader. Butler drove a "bell team," as

teams with bells were called. He was a Virginian, from the vicinity of

Winchester. It was the tradition of the road that he had a slight

infusion of negro blood in his veins, and this assigned him to the side

table of the dining room. When he quit the road he returned to

Winchester, started a store, and got rich.

Neither tradition or kindred evidence was necessary to prove the race

status of Westley Strother. He showed up for himself. He was as black as

black could be, and a stalwart in size and shape. He was well liked by

all the old wagoners, and by every one who knew him. He was mild in

manner, and honest in purpose. He had the strongest affection for the

road, delighted in its stirring scenes, and when he saw the wagons and

the wagoners, one after another, departing from the old highway, he

repined and prematurely died at Uniontown.

CHAPTER XVII.

_Old Wagoners continued--Harrison Wiggins, Morris Mauler, James

Mauler, John Marker, John Bradley, Robert Carter, R. D. Kerfoot,

Jacob F. Longanecker, Ellis B. Woodward--Broad and Narrow Wheels--A

peculiar Wagon--An experiment and a failure--Wagon Beds--Bell

Teams._

Harrison Wiggins, widely known as a lover of fox hunting, and highly

respected as a citizen, was one of the early wagoners. His career as a

wagoner ceased long before the railroad reached Cumberland. He hauled

goods from Baltimore to points west. His outfit, team and wagon, were

owned by himself and his father, Cuthbert Wiggins. Harrison Wiggins was

born in the old Gribble house, two miles east of Brownsville, on the

30th of April, 1812. About the year 1817 his father moved to Uniontown,

and kept a tavern in a frame building which stood on the lot adjoining

the residence of P. S. Morrow, Esq. He remained here until 1821, when he

went to the stone house at the eastern base of Chalk Hill, and was its

first occupant. His house at Uniontown numbered among its patrons, Hon.

Nathaniel Ewing, Samuel Cleavenger, Mr. Bouvier, John A. Sangston, John

Kennedy, John Lyon, and other eminent men of that period. In 1832 or

'33, Harrison Wiggins married a daughter of John Risler, a noted tavern

keeper of the road, one of the very best, a talent which descended to

his children. At the date of the marriage Mr. Risler was keeping the

stone house at Braddock's run, and the wedding occurred in that house.

In 1839 Harrison Wiggins went to Iowa, with a view of locating in that

State, but returned the next year and leased the property on which he

now lives from Charles Griffith. In ten years thereafter he bought this

property, and it has been his home for more than half a century. Under

the careful and sagacious management of Mr. Wiggins, it has become one

of the prettiest and most valuable properties in the mountains. It has

been a long time since he was a wagoner, but he enjoys a recital of the

stirring scenes he witnessed on the old road in the days of its glory.

[Illustration: HARRISON WIGGINS.]

There is not a more familiar name among the old pike boys than that of

Morris Mauler. He was an old wagoner, stage driver and tavern keeper. He

was born in Uniontown in the year 1806. The house in which he first

beheld the light of day, was a log building on the Skiles corner, kept

as a tavern by his father. Before he reached the age of twenty-one he

was on the road with a six-horse team and a big wagon, hauling goods

from the city of Baltimore to points west. He continued a wagoner for

many years, and afterward became a stage driver. He drove on Stockton's

line. From stage driving he went to tavern keeping. His first venture as

a tavern keeper was at Mt. Washington, when the old tavern stand at that

point was owned by the late Hon. Nathaniel Ewing. He subsequently and

successively kept the old Probasco house at Jockey Hollow, the old

Gaither house, the Yeast house, and a house in Hopwood. He always

furnished good entertainment for strangers and travelers, as well as for

friends and acquaintances, and as a consequence, was well patronized. He

died about seven years ago at Fairchance, and when his light went out a

shadow of sorrow passed over the hearts of all the old pike boys.

James Mauler, a son of Morris, above mentioned, is also an old wagoner.

He went on the road with a team in the year 1830, and remained on it as

long as he could obtain a load of goods to haul over it. He is still

living and in robust health, at Brownfield station, four miles south of

Uniontown.

[Illustration: JOHN MARKER.]

John Marker, now residing in the east end of Uniontown, is an old

wagoner. He was born at the Little Crossings in the State of Maryland,

in the year 1816, and while yet a lad began to drive a team on the road

for Joseph Plucker. In 1839 he quit the service of Plucker and came to

Wharton township, Fayette county, Pa., and soon thereafter began driving

again, first for Sebastian Rush and next for Nicholas McCartney. He is a

near relative of the Shipley, McCollough and McCartney families, all of

the old pike. Marker says he never suffered an "upset" himself, but saw

a great many "upsets" on the road. He also states that he saw a stage

driver killed near Little Crossings in 1835 by the "running off" of his

team and the "upsetting" of the coach. The name of this unfortunate

stage driver was James Rhodes, and he drove on Stockton's line. John

Marker, in his prime, was one of the stoutest men on the road, upwards

of six feet in height, and rounded out in proportion, but, being of an

amiable temperament, he never engaged in broils, realizing, no doubt,

and acting upon the poetic sentiment that:

"It is excellent to have a giant's strength,

But tyrannous to use it as a giant."

He still clings to the old road, breaking stone to repair it, when his

health will permit. He is in the 76th year of his age.

John Bradley, brother of Daniel, of Jockey Hollow, is an old wagoner. He

drove a team for Benjamin Brownfield, Jr., now residing near Newark,

Ohio., son of Col. Ben., the centennarian of South Union township, and

grand marshal of Democratic processions of the olden time. John Bradley

also worked on the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in

1839, near Oldtown, Md., fifteen miles east of Cumberland. His employer

on this work was the late Zalmon Ludington, of Uniontown, who had a

contract at the point mentioned. John Bradley is now living in the city

of Pittsburg.

Robert Carter was a well known old wagoner, a native of Washington

county, Pa., a "regular," and a very energetic, persevering and keen

sighted man. He took a prominent part in many of the festivities of the

old road, but never lost his head. He was a money maker, and unlike most

of that class, kind hearted and generous. He married the eldest daughter

of Thomas Moxley, the old tavern keeper, whose house was three miles

west of Uniontown. After his marriage he bought a small farm, known as

the Solomon Colley farm, near Hatfield's, in Redstone township, Fayette

county, Pa., subsequently merged in the Hatfield estate. He operated

this farm for a short time, but while engaged as a farmer, kept his team

on the road in charge of a hired driver. He sold his farm and leased the

Bar house in Bridgeport, and kept tavern there for some time. When

business ceased on the road, he gave up his team and his tavern, and

moved with his family to Iowa, where he engaged extensively in farming

and stock raising.

R. D. Kerfoot, the well known miner and labor leader of Everson, was at

one time a wagoner on the National Road. He was born in Lancaster

county, Pa., and before reaching the full stature of manhood in point of

age, went to Washington county, Md., where he engaged as a driver for

one J. B. Bear, a farmer of that county and State, and was put in charge

of a fine six-horse team, and a broad wheeled wagon, with which he

hauled goods, wares and merchandise to and from Baltimore and Wheeling.

He enjoyed the stirring scenes of the old road, and recalls with a keen

relish the bounteous tables of the old taverns.

Jacob F. Longanecker, who served as county commissioner of Fayette

county, Pa., from 1854 to 1857, was an old wagoner. He owned a farm in

German township, and was a good practical farmer, but spent much of his

time, for many years, on the road with his team. He enjoyed life on the

road, and seemed loath to relinquish the occupation of a wagoner.

[Illustration: ELLIS B. WOODWARD.]

Ellis B. Woodward, of Menallen township, Fayette county, Pa., is an old

wagoner with experience hardly sufficient to entitle him to be classed

as a "regular," and yet almost enough to take him from the list of

"sharp-shooters." He kept his big road wagon on his farm for many years

after the road ceased to be a profitable avenue of transportation, and

felt a pride in exhibiting it as a reminder of his identification with

the great highway, in the days of its prosperity. He still lives and

warmly cherishes the memories of the old road.

The first wagons used on the National Road were made with narrow rimmed

wheels, like those in use at the present day on farms and country roads.

It was not long, however, after the opening of the road, until the broad

wheeled, or "broad tread wagon," as it was called, was introduced, and

came into general use by the "regulars." The "sharpshooters," as a rule,

retained the narrow tread, as their wagons were designed mainly for farm

service. The width of the broad tread was about four inches, and lighter

tolls were exacted at the gates from broad than from narrow tread

wagons for the obvious reason that narrow wheels cut deeper into the

road than broad wheels.

A gentleman of Wheeling interested in the transportation business at one

time, conceived the idea of constructing a wagon that would make so wide

a track as to be allowed to pass over the road for a very low rate of

toll, if not entirely exempt. His model was a wagon with the rear axle

four inches shorter than the front one, so that a track was made of

eight inches in width. To this wagon nine horses were attached--three

abreast. It passed over the road several times, with Joseph Sopher as

driver, attracting much attention, but turning out a failure as well in

the matter of saving toll as in being an impracticable vehicle of

transportation.

The bed of the regular road wagon was long and deep, bending upward at

the bottom in front and rear. The lower broad side was painted blue,

with a movable board inserted above, painted red. The covering was of

white canvas stretched over broad wooden bows, so that the old road

wagon, probably more as a matter of taste than design, disclosed the

tri-colors of the American escutcheon, red, white and blue.

An average load was 6,000 pounds, but loads weighing 10,000 pounds, "a

hundred hundred," as all old wagoners boastfully put it, were frequently

hauled over the road.

The reader who never saw the endless procession on the old pike, in the

days of its glory, may have the impression that the bells used by some

of the old wagoners on their teams were like sleigh bells, or those of

the milk wagon of the present day, and in like manner strapped around

the horses. But that was not the way of it. The bells of the old

wagoners were cone shaped, with an open end, not unlike a small dinner

bell, and were attached to a thin iron arch, sprung over the tops of the

hames. The motion of the horses caused a quiver in the arch, and the

bell teams moved majestically along the road attracting attention and

eliciting admiration. The great majority of wagoners did not use bells.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_Old Wagoners continued--John Deets--His story told by himself--David

Church--John Snider loads up with Butter--Billy Ashton, John

Bradfield, Frank Bradfield--An Escapade--William Hall, Henry

Puffenberger and Jacob Breakiron--Collision between a "regular" and

a "sharpshooter"--Joseph Lawson, Jeff. Manypenny, Joseph Arnold,

The Sophers, Robert Beggs, Thomas Gore, and John Whetsel._

John Deets was a wagoner on the road as early as 1826, before the

invention of the rubber, or at least before its application to wagons on

the National Road. He had a brother, Michael, who preceded him as a

wagoner on the road. John Deets located in Guernsey county, Ohio, in

1835, whence he went from Menallen township, Fayette county, Pa. He is

still living. The following from his own pen furnishes a graphic account

of life on the road in his day:

MR. SEARIGHT: I will try to give you as much information as I can at

this time. My brother, Michael Deets, about four years older than

myself, was among the first that wagoned on the pike. That was about the

year 1822. He first drove his father's team, and the first load of goods

he hauled from Baltimore was to Uniontown for Isaac Beeson or Isaac

Skiles, I am not certain which. After that he drove for Abram Beagle,

who lived in the west end of Uniontown. After that he bought a team, and

a few years after bought two more, so that he owned three teams at one

time. He drove one of the teams himself and hired drivers for the other

two. The team he drove himself was a bell team. One of his drivers was

George Richards, and the other, Jesse Barnet, a colored man, who lived

in the east end of Uniontown. When they took up the old bed of the road,

and macadamized it, my brother took a contract and put his teams to

hauling stones. After finishing his contract, he resumed the hauling of

merchandise on the road and continued until about 1837, when he moved to

Ohio, thence to Illinois, and thence to Missouri, where he died.

[Illustration: JOHN DEETS.]

The pike boys had some hard times and they had some good times. They

were generally very fond of sport, and mostly tried to put up where the

landlord was a fiddler, so that they could take a hoe-down. Every one

carried his own bed, and after they had all the sport they wanted they

put their beds down on the floor in a circle, with their feet to the

fire, and slept like a mouse in a mill. They were generally very

sociable and friendly with each other, but I must note one thing just

here: Two of the boys met at David Barnett's, some three miles east of

Hancock, and got into a dispute, which was not often the case. Elias

Meek and Abner Benley were the two. Meek was for fight, Benley was for

peace. But Meek pushed on Benley and Benley run, but Meek caught him.

Then Benley knew he had to fight, and turned on Meek and gave him a

wonderful thrashing, so that he was not able to drive his team for some

time. And now with regard to getting up and down the hills. They had no

trouble to get up, but the trouble was in getting down, for they had no

rubbers then, and to tight lock would soon wear out their tires. They

would cut a small pole about 10 or 11 feet long and tie it to the bed

with the lock chain and then bend it against the hind wheel and tie it

to the feed trough, or the hind part of the wagon bed, just tight enough

to let the wheel turn slow. Sometimes one driver would wear out from 15

to 20 poles between Baltimore and Wheeling. Sometimes others would cut

down a big tree and tie it to the hind end of the wagon and drop it at

the foot of the hill. When there was ice, and there was much of it in

winter, they had to use rough locks and cutters, and the wagon would

sometimes be straight across the road, if not the hind end foremost. The

snow was sometimes so deep that they had to go through fields, and

shovel the drifts from the fences, and often had to get sleds to take

their loads across Nigger Mountain, and on as far as Hopwood. Those of

us who had to go through the fields were three days going nine miles.

This was in the neighborhood of Frostburg, Md. There were no bridges

then across the Monongahela or the Ohio rivers. Wagoners had to ferry

across in small flat-boats, and sometimes to lay at the rivers for some

days, until the ice would run out or the river freeze over. A small

bridge across Dunlap's creek, at Brownsville, broke down with one of the

pike boys and did a great deal of damage. Sometimes a barrel of coffee

would spring a leak and the coffee would be scattered along the road,

and women would gather it up and be glad for such a prize. The writer

has scattered some in his time. Some of the old citizens of Uniontown,

no doubt, well remember the time, when scores of poor slaves were driven

through that place, handcuffed and tied two and two to a rope that was

extended some 40 or 50 feet, one on each side. And thousands of droves

of hogs were driven through to Baltimore, some from Ohio. Sometimes they

would have to lay by two or three days on account of the frozen road,

which cut their feet and lamed them. While the writer was wagoning on

the old pike, the canal was made from Cumberland to Harper's Ferry. The

pike boys were bitterly opposed to railroads and so were the tavern

keepers. The writer heard an old tavern keeper say "he wished the

railroad would sink to the lower regions." That great phenomenon that

occurred the 13th of November, 1833, or, as it is often called, the

Shooting stars. That circumstance caused a great deal of excitement.

Some became very much alarmed, and it was reported that some went crazy,

and thought the world was coming to an end. The writer was at Hopwood

that night with his team and wagon. The phenomenon was also seen in

Ohio. It was reported in Ohio that there was a box of money hid on the

old Gaddis farm, near the pike, about two miles west of Uniontown,

supposed to have been hid there by Gen. Braddock. It was sought for but

never found. The taverns we mostly put up at in Baltimore were the

Maypole, on Paca street, south of Gen. Wayne, and at Thomas Elliott's,

near the Hill market; and where we mostly loaded our goods was at J.

Taylor & Sons and at Chauncey Brook's, on Baltimore and Howard streets.

Our first day's drive out of Baltimore was 19 miles, to Enoch Randall's,

or 20, to John Whalon's. The second day to Frank Wathers--who could

almost outswear the world. And one thing more: Before this writer became

a pike boy he plowed many a day with a wooden mold-board plow, and after

being engaged on the road for about ten years, he left the road and went

to Ohio, and then made a public profession of religion and united with

the Baptist church. In conclusion, will say to make as good a history as

you possibly can, and I hope you shall be well rewarded for your labor,

and above all never forget your Creator, as in Him we live, move and

have our being.

Yours respectfully,

JOHN DEETS.

David Church was an old wagoner, a native of Wheeling, and when the old

pike ceased to ring with the clatter of travel and trade, he purchased a

farm in Wharton township, near Farmington, Fayette county, Pa., took up

his residence thereon, and died a mountain farmer. He was a large, fat

man, of ruddy complexion and reddish hair. The leader in his team was of

a dun color, and as it approached the old taverns and the big

water-troughs, was recognized as the team of David Church by the color

of the leader. Charley Rush often invited Church to take a chair and be

seated when he visited the store at Farmington, but he invariably

declined, remarking that he could rest as well standing as sitting. He

felt like nearly all the old wagoners, that his occupation was gone when

transportation ceased on the old road, and could never fully adapt

himself to the new order of things.

[Illustration: JOHN SNIDER.]

In the year 1842 John Snider hauled a load of butter from Wheeling to

Washington, D. C. The owner of this butter was a man by the name of

Oyster, a butter dealer of Wheeling. He could have shipped his butter

from Cumberland to its destination by rail, as the Baltimore & Ohio road

had just then been finished to Cumberland; but his animosity against

railroads was so deep-seated that he engaged Snider to haul it all the

way through with his big team. On his way to Washington with this load

he struck off from the National Road at Frederick City, Maryland. He

reached that city on Christmas night and "put up" at Miller's tavern.

The guests of that old tavern danced all of that night, and early in the

morning of the day after Christmas, Snider "pulled out" on a strange

road for the city of Washington with his load of butter. He was three

days on a mud road between Frederick and Washington, but, nevertheless,

delivered his butter in "good condition" to the consignee. This butter

was bought up in small quantities in the vicinity of Wheeling for ten

cents per pound, and Snider got two dollars and fifty cents per hundred

pounds for hauling it to Washington.

William Ashton, a well-known old wagoner, was an Englishman by birth. He

was also an old tavern keeper. He was noted for his mental vivacity, and

for his achievements as an athlete. At Petersburg he once bounded over

the top of one of the big road wagons with the aid of a long pole. He

kept a tavern at Funkstown, seventy miles west of Baltimore, and was

largely patronized by wagoners. While keeping tavern he had two teams on

the road in charge of hired drivers. This was as early as 1835. His

drivers were Samuel Kelly and William Jones, and they hauled goods from

Hagerstown, Maryland (then the terminus of the railroad), to Terre

Haute, Indiana, and to Springfield, Illinois, involving a trip of four

months duration, and the compensation was six dollars per hundred

pounds.

John Bradfield was one of the most prominent old wagoners on the road.

He was the general agent of the first transportation company on the

road. He was also a tavern keeper. He kept the brick house west of, and

a short distance from, Petersburg, and owned it. He was a native of

Virginia.

Frank Bradfield, son of John, before mentioned, was also a wagoner.

Fifty years ago, when but a boy, he drove one of his father's teams to

Baltimore, "pulled up" on the wagon yard of the old Maypole tavern, in

that city, attended to his team, remained over night, and the next day

mysteriously disappeared. Search was instituted, but he could not be

found. He had enlisted as a soldier in the regular army. His friends

thought he was dead. He served through the Mexican war, and yet his

relatives knew not of his existence. When that war was over he stepped

one morning from a steamboat to the wharf at Brownsville. Nobody

recognized him. He took a seat in a coach at Brownsville, and in a few

hours thereafter entered his father's house, near Petersburg. He called

for supper and lodging, and the person he addressed was his father, who

did not recognize him, and to whom he did not make himself known. Supper

was announced, and his father showed him to the dining room and

withdrew. His mother, who was attending at the table, immediately after

he was seated, recognized him, and fell fainting in his arms, and there

was joy in that household, although inaugurated by a great shock. Frank

Bradfield subsequently became a clerk in the Adams Express Company, and

entered the Pittsburg office when it was first established in that city,

and remained in its service until his death, a few years ago. He has a

brother at this time in the office of the Adams Express Company at

Pittsburg, where he has been employed for many years, and esteemed as a

faithful and efficient clerk.

William Hall was a fine specimen of the old wagoner in the palmy days

of the road--a regular of regulars, zealous in his calling, and jealous

of his rights. Robert Bell, the quaint old wagoner before referred to,

was his uncle and his friend, who, it is said, rendered him substantial

aid in securing a foothold on the great National highway. There was a

certain kind of _esprit de corps_ among the old regular wagoners, and

William Hall possessed it in a high degree. He was well attired, and

clean in person and conversation. He was born in Adams county,

Pennsylvania, and his first appearance on the road was in the year 1838.

He was a great admirer of Thomas Corwin, and was in Ohio with his team

on the day that old-time statesman and orator was chosen Governor, a

circumstance he frequently referred to in after years with feelings of

pride and pleasure. He married a daughter of Aaron Wyatt, and

granddaughter of Major Paul, old tavern keepers, and this formed a

silken cord that bound him to the destinies of the old pike. In the

declining years of the road he became a stage proprietor, and in

conjunction with Redding Bunting (not a stranger to these pages),

operated a line of coaches between Cumberland and Washington,

Pennsylvania. This line had nothing of the whirl and dash of the older

lines of coaches. When wagons and stages ceased to enliven the road,

William Hall located in Cumberland, and is living there at this time,

one of the leading citizens of that place. Soon after he cast his lot in

Cumberland he was appointed Superintendent of the Maryland Division of

the road by Governor Hicks, and served in that office for a number of

years previous to the late war. He had a brother, Robert, who was also

an old wagoner, and subsequently, and for several years, a postal clerk

on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad between Cumberland and Pittsburg.

Henry Puffenberger, a "regular," given to blustering, but not a vicious

man, and Jacob Breakiron, a "sharpshooter" and a fat man, met one day on

the road and indulged in a wrangle about the right of way. Strings of

fresh broken stone on either side of the road, as was often the case,

left but a narrow passage where the meeting occurred, and this led to

the difficulty. "Old Puff," as he was called, demanded of Breakiron,

with an air of authority, that he should "turn out." Breakiron declined

to obey, and showed a determined spirit of resistance. After an exchange

of angry words Puffenberger inquired of Breakiron his name, and he

answered, "my name is Breakiron." "That," said Puffenberger, "is a hard

name, but you look harder than your name." "I am as hard as my name,"

said Breakiron, "and what is your name?" "Puffenberger," was the reply.

"That," said Breakiron, "is a windy name." "Yes," rejoined Puffenberger,

"but there is thunder with it." After this explosion of wit the

contestants compromised, shook hands, and passed without colliding.

Puffenberger was a Maryland man, became a Confederate soldier, and was

killed in battle. Breakiron was a farmer of Georges township, Fayette

county, Pennsylvania, and died on his farm a number of years ago.

[Illustration: WILLIAM HALL.]

Turner Brown, brother of Henry, famous for the big loads he hauled, was

an old wagoner. After a number of years' experience as a wagoner he

moved to Ohio and settled in Guernsey county, where he became wealthy

and was elevated to the office of Probate Judge. Persons who remember

him say he was "pompous" in manner, but honest in his dealings. He was a

native of Fayette county, Pa., born and reared in the vicinity of

Brownsville, and of the family of Browns prominently identified with the

National Road in its early days. He had a number of sons, three of

whom--Samuel, Turner and Levi--were Union soldiers in the late war.

Another, Thomas, published for a time _The Ohio Farmer_, at Cleveland;

and another, William, took to theology, and is engaged in missionary

work in some remote quarter of the globe.

Joseph Lawson was, like his fellow teamster, John Galwix, considered a

fancy wagoner. He took pride in his calling, and his team consisted of

six stallions, well mated and of gigantic size. The gears he used were

the very best of the John Morrow pattern, and his "outfit" attracted

attention and evoked words of praise from the throngs that lined the

road in that day. There was a regulation tread and an air about the old

wagoner, especially of the regular line, that rose almost, if not

altogether, to the standard of dignity.

Jeff. Manypenny was an old wagoner, and a son of the old tavern keeper

of Uniontown, referred to in a subsequent chapter.

Joseph Arnold is said to have hauled the first "eighty hundred load"

ever hauled on the road, and it gave him great fame. It was in 1837.

Joseph Sopher tried the experiment of using nine horses in his team,

driven three abreast. It did not prove practicable or profitable, and he

soon abandoned it and returned to the ordinary six-horse team. There

were four Sophers on the road and they were brothers, viz: Joseph,

Nimrod, Jack and William, and they were stage drivers as well as

wagoners.

Robert Beggs, an old wagoner, prosecuted Jacob Probasco for perjury. The

prosecution grew out of an affidavit made by Probasco alleging that

Beggs, who was indebted to him, was about to remove his goods from the

State with intent to defraud his creditors. This prosecution gave

Probasco much trouble and involved him in considerable expense, and is

said to have been the cause of his removal from Fayette county,

Pennsylvania.

Thomas Gore was one of the first wagoners on the road, and a regular. He

lived in Hopwood when that village was known as Woodstock. He drove a

"bell team," and owned it. He was well known all along the road, but it

is so long ago that but few of the pike boys of this day remember him.

He gave up wagoning long before business ceased on the road, and settled

in Franklin township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he died thirty

years ago. Robinson Addis, a well known and much esteemed citizen of

Dunbar township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, married a daughter of

Thomas Gore; and a grandson of the old wagoner, bearing the name Thomas

Gore Addis, is one of the trusted and trustworthy superintendents of the

H. Clay Frick Coke Company, with headquarters at Brownfield Station, on

the Southwest Railway.

John Whetzel, called "Johnny," a regular old wagoner, was small in

stature, quiet in disposition, and of swarthy complexion. He talked but

little, rarely using a word beyond the size of a monosyllable, and was

well known and highly esteemed all along the road. When the career of

the road as a great National highway ended, "Johnny" Whetzel retired to

a farm in Saltlick township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he

still lives, bending under the weight of many years, but enjoying the

confidence and respect of all his neighbors.

[Illustration: JOHN WALLACE.]

CHAPTER XIX.

_Old Wagoners continued--The Harness they Used--John Morrow a maker of

Harness--Capt. Elias Gilmore encounters a Man Eater--Perry Gaddis,

William G. Patterson, Alfred Bailes, the Scarboroughs and

McLaughlins--Hill, who respected Sunday--James Riley and Oliver

Pratt, Robert Carr, Robert Allison, David Herr, William Keefer,

Abram Beagle, Samuel Youman, Robert Cosgrove, James Brownlee, John

Collier, Darius Grimes, Fielding Montague, James Smith, Elisha

Maxon, Jacob Marks, Thomas Starr, Thomas Hastings, Henry Foster,

John Smasher, Maj. Jesse B. Gardner, McWilliams, Pixler, Riley and

Hankins._

John Morrow, of Petersburg, mentioned herein before as a manufacturer of

the wagoner's whip, was likewise a saddle and harness maker, and had the

reputation of making the best harness on the road. He was a man of thin

visage and energetic habit.

Gears was the name old wagoners applied to harness. The gears used on

the team of the regular wagoner were of immense proportions. The back

bands were fifteen and the hip straps ten inches wide, and heavy black

housing covered the horses' shoulders down to the bottom of the hames.

The traces used were iron chains with short and thick links. It required

a strong man to throw these heavy gears on the back of a big horse.

Heavy and broad as they were, these gears were not out of proportion to

the large fat horses of the old teams, and looked well on their broad

and shining backs. The wagoner's saddle was unique. It was made over an

ordinary wooden model, covered with thick, black leather, and had long

and wide skirts or aprons, cut straight on the edges and ends. Daniel P.

Gibson, the well known capitalist of Uniontown, learned the trade of

saddle and harness making with John Morrow in Petersburg, and worked

many a day on the big gears and odd saddle, above described.

Capt. Elias Gilmore was not strictly an old wagoner, but a pike boy to

all intents and purposes, yet his home was not immediately on the road.

He had a team which he employed for the most part in hauling stones for

repairs on the road. He was a contractor, and an energetic one. He was

an amiable man, in a general way, but given at times to pugilistic

encounters, and it is said that no man along the road could outdo him in

a fight. A stage driver once came upon the road who was called "the man

eater." He drove from Uniontown to Mt. Washington on the Good Intent

line. Gilmore, hearing of this famous "man eater," was desirous of

meeting him, and calling one day at Mt. Washington, inquired where he

was. Upon being introduced, Gilmore said to him: "You are a pretty

stout looking man, but I can lick you," and at it they went, without

further ceremony, and Gilmore did lick him. At another time Gilmore was

in Uniontown with a load of lumber, and stood his team across the

street, which caused John P. Sturgis, who was constable then, to take

him to task for obstructing the street, whereupon Gilmore fell upon

Sturgis and gave him a tremendous beating, for which he was fined by the

burgess. Gilmore was born in Wharton township, Fayette county, Pa., and

owned and lived on a farm near "Sugar Loaf," in the vicinity of

Ohiopyle. His wife was a sister of Boss Rush, "the prince of landlords."

Captain Gilmore moved, with his family, to Illinois thirty years ago,

and subsequently to York county, Nebraska, where he is still living in

comfortable circumstances, a farmer and stock dealer. He long since

abandoned the profitless pastime of sowing wild oats, and is esteemed as

one of the most respectable and influential citizens of Nebraska. John

Rush, a brother of Boss, and brother-in-law of Gilmore, an old wagoner

and tavern keeper, went west with Gilmore, and lives near him now, in

Nebraska.

Perry Gaddis, who died a few years ago at Dunbar, Pennsylvania, was an

old wagoner. His first service on the road as driver was for Isaac

Bailey, who kept a tavern near the old red house east of Brownsville,

subsequently postmaster at Brownsville, and a member of the Fayette

county, Pennsylvania, bar. Gaddis married a daughter of Robert Shaw, an

old tavern keeper, and many years ago steward of the county home near

Uniontown. She was a schoolmate of the author of these pages, as was

also her sister, who became the wife of Robert S. McDowell, another well

known pike boy. William D. Beggs, father-in-law of the late Dr. Smith

Fuller, blessed be his memory, was our faithful old teacher. Mrs.

Gaddis, Perry's widow, is still living at Dunbar.

[C]William G. Patterson, of Jefferson township, Fayette county,

Pennsylvania, an old wagoner, has a record worthy of special mention.

When on the road he was called "Devil Bill," and this name followed him

to his farm, and adhered to him for many years. To see him now at his

ancestral home, bending beneath his four score years and more, gentle in

manner and intelligent and entertaining in conversation, surrounded by

all the needful comforts of this life, one wonders how he ever got the

name of "Devil Bill." His first appearance on the National Road as a

driver was in the year 1820, when he assisted in driving a lot of hogs

for his father to Baltimore. It required almost a month to drive a lot

of hogs from the vicinity of Brownsville to the city of Baltimore. He

made his first trip over the road as a wagoner in 1823, going clear

through to Baltimore. The first team he drove was his father's, but it

was not long until he became the owner of a team himself. He was on the

road many years as a wagoner. The farm on which he now resides descended

from his grandfather to his father, and then to himself. His father died

on this farm on Christmas day of the year 1827. His grandfather came

out from Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, at an early day.

[Footnote C: Died in Iowa in 1892.]

[Illustration: ALFRED BAILES.]

Alfred Bailes, of Dunbar, Pennsylvania, is probably the oldest man

living who drove a team on the National Road. He was first a wagoner,

and subsequently and for many years a stage driver. He was born in

Loudon county, Virginia, and came upon the road about the year 1830, at

the solicitation of John Bradfield, who was also a native of Virginia,

and agent of the first line of wagons on the road. Alfred Bailes was

born in 1804, and although closely approaching his ninetieth year, his

eye is undimmed and his natural vigor unabated. Samuel Luman, of

Cumberland, is two years younger than Bailes, but two years his senior

as a stage driver. Bailes was one of the most commanding figures on the

road, upwards of six feet in height, with broad chest and shoulders, and

long arms. Noted for great strength, he was never quarrelsome. As a

driver he performed his functions faithfully and carefully. He is a most

interesting relic of the road, and his memory is well stored with

interesting reminiscences of its faded glory.

Samuel and William Scarborough were old wagoners. They lived on the old

William Elliott farm, in Jefferson township, Fayette county, Pa., and

were brothers. William Hogg, the pioneer merchant of Brownsville, was

the owner of the William Elliott farm at the time referred to, and the

Scarboroughs paid their rent by hauling a load of merchandise for Mr.

Hogg once a year, from Baltimore to his store in Brownsville.

George McLaughlin, still living near Uniontown, but now, and for a long

time, a sufferer from rheumatism, is an old wagoner. It may be that

exposure, when a wagoner, to the snow storms of the mountains, is the

source of the rheumatism which now afflicts him. His brother, Abraham,

who lives at Mt. Braddock, is also an old wagoner, and, when a boy,

broke stone on the pike at a "levy" a perch.

There was an old wagoner whose name was Hill, and he lived at

Triadelphia, now West Virginia, then "Old Virginia never tire," who

never drove his team on Sunday. He seems not to have lost anything by

resting his team and himself on Sunday, for he made as good time on his

trips as any other wagoner, and in the end became rich.

Michael Teeters, a spluttering old wagoner, was noted for his profanity.

He was possessed with the fatal delusion that hard swearing was evidence

of superior intelligence. He, of course, had some good traits, as the

worst of men have; but when age and infirmity came upon him, he

exchanged the tramp over the hills of the old pike for a "walk over the

hills to the poor house," and died in the county home of Washington

county, Pennsylvania. Had he followed the example of Hill, who rested on

Sunday, it may not be said that he would have grown rich, but it is

pretty certain that the surroundings of his dying hours would have been

different from what they were.

James Riley and Oliver Pratt were among the oldest of the old

wagoners--veterans in every sense. Riley was a large man, with florid

face and very white hair, and was called "Old Whitey." He lived and died

in Hopwood. Pratt was also a large man, and stout, a steady drinker,

with red-rimmed eyes. He was a good driver, and devoted to his calling.

He married a Miss Bird, of the old family of that name, in Henry Clay

township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and when flush times ended on

the road, went west and died, far from the scenes of the grand old

highway.

Robert Carr, who died in Uniontown about two years ago, was an old

wagoner. He was on the road as early as 1825. He drove first for

Benjamin Miller, grandfather of Ben, Sam and Jeff Miller, of Uniontown.

He subsequently married a daughter of Abner Springer, of North Union

township, Fayette county, who owned a road team which was placed in

charge of Carr, and he drove it several years. He was also a stage

driver.

Robert Q. Fleming, now residing in Uniontown, is an old wagoner. He

hauled whiskey from the old Overholt distillery, near Mt. Pleasant, to

Baltimore for many years, and loaded back with merchandise to various

points in the west. One of his earliest back loads consisted of oysters

for Pittsburg, _via_ Brownsville. The oyster boxes were piled up to the

canvass covering, and upon reaching Brownsville he was required to drive

down the wharf to the steamboat landing, which was "sidling," and at the

time icy. Some of the top boxes fell out and were broken, whereupon the

bystanders helped themselves to fresh shell oysters. They were not

carried away, but the eager oyster lovers picked them up, cracked open

the shells on the wagon wheels and gulped down the juicy bivalves on the

ground. Fleming was "docked," as they termed the abating of loss, from

the freight charges.

Robert Allison, one of the best known of the old wagoners, was a

fighting man. He did not seem to be quarrelsome, yet was often, as by

some sort of untoward destiny, involved in pugilistic encounters along

the road. In one of these at Fear's tavern, on Keyser's Ridge, he bit

off the nose of a stage driver.

David Harr was a good fiddler, and William Keefer was a good dancer, and

these two old wagoners warmed the bar room of many an old tavern between

Baltimore and Wheeling, in the good old days when every mile of the

National Road bristled with excitement.

Abram Beagle was a widely known old wagoner. He lived with David

Moreland in Uniontown as early as 1820, and probably before that time,

and subsequently became a tavern keeper. The house he kept was twelve

miles east of Wheeling, and he married it. That is to say: The Widow

Rhodes owned the tavern stand, and he married _her_. He kept a good

house, and was largely patronized. Old citizens of Uniontown who

remember Abram Beagle, and there are not many of them living, speak of

him as a good and worthy citizen of the olden time.

[Illustration: GERMAN D. HAIR.]

Samuel Youman, of Washington county, Pa., was an old wagoner, stage

driver and tavern keeper. He drove stage from Hillsboro to Washington,

and subsequently kept tavern in Hillsboro. He had the distinction of

being next to the largest man on the road, "Old Mount" being admittedly

the largest. Youman was a man full of zeal, as to all pursuits and

interests relating to the National Road. He understood the art of

driving horses to perfection, was kindly in disposition, and attracted

attention by reason of his immense size. He had a son, Israel, who was

also a stage driver and a lively fellow. Father and son are presumably

both dead, but the marks they made on the memories of the old pike are

indelible.

Poor old Robert Cosgrove, who once traversed the road with all the pride

and pomp of a "regular," finally succumbed to the adverse tides of life

and time, and to avoid "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,"

took refuge in the "county home," where he remains, indulging the

memories of better days and awaiting the summons to rejoin the

companionship of old wagoners who have passed over the dark river.

James Brownlee was one of the old wagoners who suffered the experience

of a genuine "upset." It occurred near Hagen's tavern, east of

Cumberland. He had a high load, and encountered a big snow drift which

he thought he could overcome by pulling out and around, but he failed,

and his wagon capsized. His main loss was in time, which was "made up"

by the good cheer at Hagen's old tavern.

John Collier, father of Daniel Collier, was a wagoner on the road when

it was first opened up for travel. He had been a wagoner on the Braddock

road for years before the National Road was made. He lived in Addison,

Somerset county, Pa., as early as 1795, and was one of the foremost

wagoners of his day. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Amos S. Bowlby, of

Fayette street, Uniontown.

Darius Grimes was among the first crop of wagoners, and gave up the whip

and line long before the termination of the road's prosperous era. When

the writer first knew him he was living a retired life on the roadside

at the foot of Graham's lane, three miles west of Uniontown. He was one

of the earliest tavern keepers on the road, beside being a wagoner. He

kept the old Abel Colley house, west of and near Searight's, before Abel

Colley owned that property, and that was a long time ago. William

Johnson, farmer and dealer in fruits and vegetables, well known to the

people of Uniontown, married a daughter of Darius Grimes.

Fielding Montague, an old wagoner and stage driver, is still living on

the road. His residence is in Henry Clay township, Fayette county,

Pennsylvania, where his sleep is undisturbed by the clatter which in

other years was heard at all hours of the night as well as day. Montague

was not a driver on the old stage lines, but after they were withdrawn

from the road, drove the mail hack for a considerable length of time

between Uniontown and Somerfield. He was, however, a regular wagoner in

the palmy days of the road.

[D]James Smith, now living in Wharton township, Fayette county,

Pennsylvania, well and favorably known, is an old wagoner. He enjoyed

the grand march along the old road, and was deeply grieved when

stillness took the place of the bustling activity that marked its palmy

days. The old veteran is bending to the storms of time, but glows with

enthusiasm when recounting the scenes he witnessed on the old highway

"in the days of yore."

[Footnote D: Deceased.]

Elijah Maxon was an old wagoner. His home was near the Charlestown

school house, in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He

owned the team he drove, and made money on the road. He moved west many

years ago, and in all probability has gone to that bourne whence no

traveler returns.

Jacob Marks was an old wagoner, and subsequently, like so many of his

fellows, became a tavern keeper. He first kept the stone house at

Malden, between Brownsville and Centreville, and afterward the old

Workman House at Brownsville. The glory of the old road had departed

before he took charge of the Workman House, and business was dull; but

the road was flush when he entertained the public at Malden, and he did

a thriving business there.

Thomas Starr was an old wagoner, and drove for John Riley, an old tavern

keeper of Bridgeport, Fayette county, Pa. The old citizens of Bridgeport

and Brownsville will remember Starr and Riley, as they were conspicuous

pike boys in their day.

Thomas Hastings was an old wagoner and tavern keeper. He kept the house

well known and well patronized in his day about four miles east of

Washington.

Henry Foster, late of North Union township, Fayette county, Pa., a well

known farmer in his day, was an old wagoner. He drove a six-horse team

to Baltimore in 1837, when but nineteen years old. His first load was

bacon, consigned to a Baltimore house by Edward Gavin, of Uniontown. His

return load was merchandise, consigned to William Bryson, a merchant of

that day at Uniontown.